Watchdog Warns Congress to Be on Lookout for Fraud In $50 Billion Psychiatric-Behavioral Market

January 5, 2018

“A citizens watchdog group and two U.S. Congressmen are cautioning about the potential for fraud, abuse and wasteful spending in behavioral healthcare.

Thousands of U.S. state legislators have been put on notice about potential patient abuse and fraud in the for-profit behavioral system that is costing taxpayers an estimated $50 billion a year.

Another lucrative field is substance abuse treatment, which has escalated with the opioid addiction problem in the U.S. Addiction psychiatry usually treats substance abusers with prescription drugs. For opioid addiction, buprenorphine or a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone is often prescribed. Abuse of this prescription drug has now become an epidemic.

The mental health sector provides for clinics to dispense buprenorphine in much the same way methadone clinics were established, CCHR said, but it is more lucrative as there are fewer costs. Many doctors charge $200 to $300 monthly, per patient, for a five-to-10 minute checkup to renew the prescription. There is a financial windfall in this market, as buprenorphine and its maintenance creates a disincentive to taper patients off the drug due to its potential to generate income.”